The prior art for use in cleaning the external walls of a building entails carrying out a wall cleaning process by hand. The manual wall cleaning process involves mounting a simple hanging structure at the top of the building, attaching a movable wall cleaning platform to the hanging structure, and eventually cleaning the external walls of the building by a wall cleaning worker working on the movable wall cleaning platform.
The conventional wall cleaning platform serves the following purposes: an elevation cable, a detergent, and a brush are positioned on the conventional wall cleaning platform; and a hose extends from the top floor to the wall cleaning platform, such that the wall cleaning worker can clean the external walls of the building with water sprayed out of the hose.
Normally, the conventional hanging structure can be moved along a rail fixed to the top floor of the building and thus cannot be uninstalled. Furthermore, even if the wall cleaning platform is not in use, the conventional hanging structure will still remain on the top floor of the building and thus will be exposed to rainfall and sunshine; as a result, the conventional hanging structure is likely to rot or rust.
Furthermore, the wall cleaning platform is usually separated from the adjacent external wall of the building by a distance, and thus the wall cleaning worker has to clean the adjacent external wall of the building, using a brush with a long handle. Cleaning an external wall of a building with a long-handle brush is not only time-consuming and laborious but also proves ineffective in cleaning a specially-located external wall or an external wall of a special shape.
The aforesaid conventional wall cleaning process is preceded by a wall cleaning platform moving process that requires the wall cleaning worker to manually control the elevation cable for moving the wall cleaning platform vertically. It is not uncommon for the wall cleaning platform moving process to be hazardous. For example, the wall cleaning worker working on the wall cleaning platform is likely to trip or even fall off the wall cleaning platform because the wall cleaning platform moving vertically shakes or because the detergent or water wets the wall cleaning platform. Furthermore, the elevation cable is likely to be splashed with the detergent or water and thus develops a short circuit to thereby end up with a failure.
Accordingly, it is imperative to devise a hanging structure which is movable and storable freely and effective in operating in conjunction with a wall cleaner for cleaning an external wall of a building in an automated manner with a view to preventing wall cleaning workers from getting injured while at work and reducing work accidents.